Garment and cuff therefor



GARMENT AND CUFF THEREFOR Filed Feb. 21, 1955 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVE TOR ARHIGHVE Jbmvsou.

BY 0 1 J ATTORNE arch 10, 1959 A R JQHNSQN 2,876,456

GARMENT AND CUFF THEREFOR Filed Feb. 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 II NVENTOR AIPI'IIGE'IYE R. Jbunsolv. BY

I 2' r ATTORNEY United States Patent GARMENT AND CUFF THEREFOR Armigene R. Johnson, Wantagh, N. Y. Application February 21, 1955, Serial No. 489,470

' 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-269) This invention relates to garments for men, women and children and more specifically concerns an improved garment and cuff structure adaptable for use either on the sleeve of a blouse or shirt or on relatively snugly fitting party or toreador pants of the type more generally worn by women.

In mens and womens shirts and blouses, one of the more important problems generally encountered is that of obtaining a garment having proper sleeve length without the necessity of paying the added cost of personalized tailoring or remodeling. Long sleeved garments also have a further disadvantage in that they must be folded up when worn by persons in certain types of work to avoid undue wear on the edge of the cuff and prevent soiling. In doing this the cuff, particularly on mens shirts, becomes crushed and no longer presents a good appearance.

In the case of both mens and womens garments, unless v the sleeve is tightly rolled up, it will tend to slide back down and seriously inconvenience the wearer as well as possibly soiling the shirt. Moreover unless the sleeve is rolled the cuff will fall away from the arm.

. Accordingly one object of the invention resides in the provision of a cuff for sleeves and pants that is adjustable in length and can be raised or shortened to a three-quarter length sleeve or slack with the cuff closely hugging the limb and forming a finished appearance and the raised cuff will stay in the raised position without being deformed or otherwise wrinkled. This is particularly important in both mens and womens shirts since the sleeves can be readily raised to keep them clean during the work day as well as preventing undue wear of the cuff edges.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a cult that enables the sleeve or pants of which it forms part to be shortened not only to a three-quarter length but also to a point above the elbow or knee without wrinkling the cult while at the same time causing the cult to snugly hug the arms and present a completely finished and good looking appearance.

2 Still another object of the invention provides a novel and improved cut? for garments that is characterized by its simplicity, relatively low cost, versatility and long life.

. The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming part of application.

'In the drawings:

Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, are perspective views of a garment cult in accordance with the invention and illustrate three positions to which the cufi may be adjusted about the arm of the wearer;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a cufi in accordance with the invention and adapted for use on a mans garment;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are perspective views of a cuff in accordance with the invention as applied to ladies party or toreador pants;

Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views of one embodiment of a cuff in accordance with the invention to illustrate the structural details thereof;

ice]

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the cuff shown in Fig. 8 in a partially raised position; i

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 8 taken along the lines 1l-11 thereof;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the cuff in accordance with the invention; and

Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view of. Fig. 12 along the line 1313 thereof.

As pointed out above, long sleeve garments for tried and women have posed a relatively serious problem not only in obtaining a garment with the sleeve of proper and comfortable length but also in preventing soiling of the cuff and undue wear during the course of the days activities. In the case of shirts and blouses for both men and women as well as children, the invention provides an adjustable cult that can be positioned to suit the desires and comfort of the wearer and at the same time be adjustable to a three-quarter position on the arm or to a point above the elbow without wrinkling or crushing the cult. As will be shown the cuff in accordance with the invention is readily adaptable for use on any limbcovering element such as snug fitting pants for women, more commonly known as toreador pants, as well as on blouse and shirt sleeves.

Referring now to Figs. 8 through 11, the sleeve 10 which may be formed of any suitable material is preferably tapered inwardly toward the cuff end thereof and in accordance with common practice may have a longitudinal seam 11 along the under side.

In this embodiment of the invention the cuff portion; generally denoted by the numeral 12, is interlined with the same material as that of the sleeve. This interlining 13 preferably extends upwardly on the inside of the sleeve for a distance of about six to ten inches depending upon the size of the garment and is tacked or sewn to the sleeve along the line denoted by the dotted line 14. The seam 11 on the underside of the sleeve terminates at a point 15 slightly below the seam 14 and the remaining portion of the cuff 12 is open as illustrated at 16. One open edge 17 of the cuff preferably includes a pair of buttonholes 20 to receive link buttons 18. The other open edge 19 of the cult includes a similar pair of buttonholes 20 for cooperation with the link buttons 18. With this structure the cuff may be closed by engaging the inner button of each set of link buttons with its corresponding buttonhole 20 in much the same manner as cuff links are used on a mans conventional shirt. In the alternative the outer button of each link button may beused to engage the corresponding buttonhole 20 in which case the edges 17 and 19 are overlapped and only one button of each set will be visible. In this way the closure of the cuff 12 can be accomplished in accordance with the desires of the wearer and any type of link buttons 18 or more ornate cuff links may be employed.

The cuff 12 may of course be fabricated individually or as part of the sleeve or pants leg. In either case the cult 12 is formed of a flexible piece of material having a .straight upper edge, a pair ofinwardly tapered edges 17 and 19 and an outer edge 21 shaped in the desired manner.

For a ladys blouse or shirt the bottom edge 21 of the cuff is preferably formed in an arcuate manner so that it will curve gradually from the opening 16 to a high point 22 at the outer edge of the sleeve and then generally downwardly to meet the opposing edge 19. In addition the diameter of the sleeve at a point denoted by the tacking 15 is preferably made large enough to pass over the elbow of the wearer so that this portion of the sleeve can be drawn beyond the elbow in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 3, Fig. 1 shows the sleeve 10 in the lowered position. In this illustration the edge 19 of the opening 16 overlaps the edge 17 and the outer buttons 18 engage the buttonholes 20 to form in effect a lapped closure. It will be observed that the lower button 18 is spaced from the wrist a short distance to permit a portion'of the cuff 12 to be folded upwardly to form the curved cuff part 12' illustrated. As pointed out, the folded portion 12 of the cuff can be adjusted to greater or lesser depth to meet the requirements of the wearer and thus provide a substantial range of adjustment of sleeve length. This not only provides added convenience for the wearer but will avoid the necessity of making a Wide range of shirt sizes.

In many instances and particularly in industrial and professional positions it is often desirable to be able to shorten the sleeve length to form the equivalent of a three-quarter length sleeve and thus avoid unnecessary soiling or wear of the folded edge of the cuff. This feature is shown in Fig. 2 wherein one of the buttons 18 is unfasteued and thefolded portion 12' of the cuff 12 is merely pulled upwardly to form the three-quarter length sleeve. Note that the cuif is not folded or creased in any way but merely drawn upwardly about the arm where it hugs the arm closely and stays out of the way of the wearer. In addition by reason of the tapered contour of the sleeve and the cuff 12, the folded portion 12 will remain in its adjusted position notwithstanding the activity of the wearer, and presents a finished appearance.

Fig. 3 illustrates still another position of the sleeve where the cuff 12 is positioned slightly above the elbow of the wearer. In this case the-sleeve is drawn upwardly on the arm until the lower termination of the under seam 11 as indicated by the tacking is slightly above the elbow. The edge 21 of the cuff 12 is then drawn upwardly to form a very deep cuif part 12' which again hugs the arm of the wearer and will stay firmly in the adjusted position. In this case the cuff 12 is completely out of the way of the wearer and provides a particularly useful feature for nurses and people in other professions who must frequently wash their hands, or work with liquids that may accidentally splash on the arm. It will be observed that the cuff in this position is not wrinkled or folded so that when it is returned to the position shown in Fig. 1 it will present the same finished, well-appearing cuff as though it had not been raised in the manner shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Fig. 4 illustrates the application of this invention to the left sleeve of a mans shirt with the longitudinal seam being disposed along the line denoted by the numeral 22.

In this case the folded portion 12' of the cuff 12 is formed with a substantially straight edge 23 tapered slightly as shown at 24 and 25. Here again the cuff may be ad justed to the desired length and when raised to either the three-quarter position or a position above the elbow will securely hug the arm in the manner shown in Figs.

2 and 3.

Figs. 5 through 7 correspond to Figs. 1 to 3 and show the application of the invention to the trouser leg 24 of snugly fitting pants for women such as toreador pants and the like. It will be observed that in these three figures the folded portion 12 of the cuff 12 is adjustable in length and can be raised to the three-quarter position '4 as shown in Fig. 6 or to a position above the knee as shown in Fig. 7.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 12 and utilizes substantially the same structure shown in Fig. 8 except that the interlining 13 is omitted. In its place suitable piping 27 may be employed along the edges 17 and 19 of the opening 16 and about the lower edge 21 of the cuff. One procedure for securing the piping 27 to the cutf 12 is shown in Fig. 13 wherein the material of the calf: is folded upon itself and sewn in the conventional manner to the downwardly extending tab 27' of the piping 27. When utilizing the structure in Fig. 12 it is preferable to use a material having the same finish on both the inside as well as the outside so that when the cuff is folded back on itself as shown in Figs. 1 to 3 it will present a good appearance. If desired the cuff in accordance with this invention may be fabricated of materials stiffer than conventional shirt cloths and the like. As, for example, the sleeve and cuff may be fabricated of a felt that does not need to be finished about the edges in which case the sleeve would be made of a single layer of the material with suitable buttonholes 20 on one edge of the opening 16 and cooperating means on the other edge of the opening to receive the link buttons in the manner previously described.

While several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it is apparent that other modifica tions, alterations and changes may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a garment, a limb-covering element, a conical upturned cuif of at least double-ply material carried by said element and having an elongated slit extending from the outer edge inwardly to a point spaced from the attachment of the cuff to said sleeve element, the free corners of said upturned cuff part curving outwardly from the point of fold and away from said slit, and at least two sets of fastening means on the edges of said slit for securing said edges one to the other.

2. In a garment, a limb-covering element, a conical upturned cuff of at least double-ply material carried by said element and having an elongated slit extending from the outer edge inwardly to a point spaced from the attachment of the cuff to said sleeve element, the free corners of said upturned culf part curving outwardly from the point of fold and away from said slit, at least two sets of fastening means on the edges of said slit for securing said edges one to the other and stiffening means along the edges of said slit and upturned cufi part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 896,659 Onlfray Aug. 18, 1908 934,567 Pennington Sept. 21, 1909 2,148,851 Bellone Feb. 28, 1939 2,626,396 Kanin Jan. 27, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,920 Great Britain July 15, 1880 345,566 France Oct. 2 0, 1904 238,674 Germany Oct. 2, 1911 86,550 Switzerland Sept. 1, 1920 

